Commentary on the Sutra of the Dharma-Collection of Fathers and Sons (44)

Characteristics and Functions of Wind

The characteristic of wind is buoyancy. When propelled by wind, walking and cycling become swift. When the wind blows, some light objects are carried upward. Another characteristic of wind is motion; it causes objects to become unstable and induces movement. Why can our body function? Because wind element exists within the body. Without the wind element, our limbs could not move, nor could we speak.

How is speech produced? When awareness and perception arise in the mind, along with sensations, we wish to express them through speech. Then, a current of wind arises within the body. This wind touches the navel, then moves upward to touch the heart and lungs, further upward to touch the trachea, larynx, and mouth, then touches the tongue, teeth, and lips—after which speech is produced. Without the wind element, speech cannot arise. The nature of wind is motion, and speech is also motion. Without this wind element, sound cannot be produced. No matter how many thoughts arise in our mind, without the function of wind, ideas and concepts cannot be expressed, and speech cannot be generated. This demonstrates that the wind element must exist within the body. When wind moves, it touches the internal organs, thereby producing speech.

Speech is also illusory. Where is each individual sound of speech stored? Nowhere can it be stored. After we finish speaking, where does the speech cease? It ceases nowhere. Thus, all phenomena are similarly illusory, cannot be grasped through analysis, and lack inherent reason—emerging from nothingness and returning to nothingness. Through analytical reasoning of all principles and phenomena, everything we encounter is revealed to be similarly illusory and unreal. By repeatedly contemplating and reflecting in this way, one can realize the emptiness of all phenomena, sever the view of self, and attain the first fruition. Thereafter, gradually, nothing remains that cannot be relinquished.